Package grabber



Feb. 10, 1925.

W. A. THAYER PACKAGE GRABBER Filed Nov. 10, 1924 )ZJQ (diastole Jammy,conccm;

Patented Feb. 10, 1925. i

"WILLIAM A. THAYER. r an-Ani e NEW. YQBK- regimen enannnn.

Application filed Navember 10;. 1924. Serial; No, 748,900;

Bait known that liflllnynmir in. 'llrrnY-nn, a citinenof'the United, States, residingwat Syna cuse, in, the county of; Qnondaga and State of New York, have inventedtcentain new nd; sefuli Inn iov men n B eak ge (irabbers, of whiclythe following-is a specite time 5 i Y This invention relates to iimpro.vements in grabber-s, designed; for use by; storekeepers,

fen remov ng packaged goods from shelves. and thelike, and has. for its-objectto proT vide novel and; simple device. ofthe class, by which packages of different: sizcmnd-ofa relatively heavy weight; may be readily and safely, gripped, and; lowered, from; shelnes. that arebeyondi the neach of; the store at-. tendants; A funthen object is toi provide a, device of the class, whose. gripping jaws are arranged" to be manually openedw-for res, ceiving the packages, and which tlereaften holds. the. packages firmly gripped, by the gravitation of certailn of the working parts. A furtherobjeclr is to provide a, gripping mechanism, which automatically adjusts.

itselftowpackagesjofi diiferent size and:shape.

And; a, further objectis.toigencrallyimprove. and simplify the construction, arrangement and operation ot pjackage handlers: of; the. class. i

h attain. these objects. by the means. set tenth in the detailed description which fol-. l ows, anch as. illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which i J Fignrevl is a top endzview Ofl the complete. device; showing the gripping arms. closed. Fig. Qis} a similar View; showing; the arms extended and gripping a square package. Fig. Sis a right sideelevation, viewed in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 1s a front side elevation, viewed in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a broken front side elevation; showing the gripping jaws extended and embracing a rectangular package. Fig. 6 is an enlarged top end view; showing a cylindrical, package held by the aws. Fig. 7 is a top-plan view of one of the gripping members. And Fig. 8 is a view of the triangular head of the operating rod. In the drawing, 2 represents a relatively long round handle, preferably made of wood, whose top end is reinforced and protected by a metal ferrule 2. The top end of the pole 2 is bored out eccentrically to receive a round metal post or rod 3, which is P f a ly h ld ri id. lav the ferru e. Th

rod projectsseneral inches beyond; the handle, andqits top end is threadedand fitted with nuts13;---3, betaveen, which the grabbing .01! gripping members. on jaws aft" are pivot- Hilly. securedyfor operation like the bladesof a :painof shears, in aplaneatnight angles to thevaxis of; the handle. The. members, 4;-.-.-4f are substantially Z -shapedi' and are. alike. in all respects, except. that the member 4a isire versed; when the. parts.- are. assembled, as showirimEigs. 1 2; and t. Each memben comprises; an operatin arm. 4:, and; a. grip-. pin-g; arm, onj aw: a, the latter being bent; at right angles llitllllQCllfltQdtS ends, to form. a shallow hook, in whose bightl, the corner of a square package, mall, or one side of a cylindrical article, as, B, may .be disposed. Thearmslt of the jaws are perforated. at sf, to receive thessupport 3, and the freeends of. said arms are; correspondingly perforated, forl attaching; a common operating medium.

When. the members .firf 'fir b are. reversed, as.

shown in. Figsrlt, 2 and 6, the bights. 4 o f-the. severalangulan portions. al face. each, other, and the jaws 4" may be readily. ad jnsted for gripping nelatively'small; as well as rel-ntivelylarge.articles, asshown in Figs. 1' and 2. The. gripping jaws. 4L!" are. preferablypartially-covered with nubber, or-other cushion and adhesive material; its-41?, forpreventinginjury to, as well as, the accidental release of the articles, while the latter are beingvremoved from a. shelf. The arms at of the members are preferably mounted: one

uponath e. other, with their. broa d1 dimensions disposeda horizontally, while the jaws 4th have. their broad dimensions. arranged! vertically. This is accomplished by giving the aws. a quarter-twist, ias indicatedf at thev bends. t The jaws of the members 4=t are opened and closed scissors-fashion, by an operating rod 5, which is reciprocatable on the front side of the handle 2, by means of loop screws 5, which are disposed at intervals along the handle. The lower end 5 of the rod 5 is bent outwardly for facilitating the manipu forated ends of the portions 4;, as best seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 6. The lower ends of the loop-arms 66 straddle the bent portion of the rod 5, to which they are pivoted by a pin 6. The normal disposition and arrangement of the operating parts, are as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4:, wherein the jaws t" are held in the closed and partially overlapped position, by the gravitation of the operating rod 5 and the triangle 6. The jaws l are opened for effecting the grabbing of packages, as A and B, by the operator forcing the rod 5 and triangle 6 upwardly, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. This upward movement of the rod 5 and the loop 6 swings the arms at from the position shown in Figs. 1, 3 and l, to that shown in Figs. 2 and 5 in which the free ends of the arms P have been moved toward each other, for spreading the gripping arms 4-" sufficiently to permit the claw-like extremities 4* of the jaws to be inserted between or around an article, as A or B; after which the operator lets go the rod 5 and the lat ter instantly gravitates until all of the looseness or slack of the parts is taken up and the claws 41 firmly grip the package, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6. The operator may then remove the package from the shelf, and lower it without danger of the package being accidentally released. improved gripper readily and safely handles packages weighing from ten to fifteen pounds.

Obviously, by slightly changing the shape and arrangement of the gripping members l-- my device may be employed for a variety of uses, such as harvesting apples, peaches, and the like.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, is

1. In a device of the class described, an elongated handle, a post embedded in the top of the handle, an operating rod reciprocatable on the handle and having a bent portion which engages and slides on the said post, a pair of oppositely arranged gripping members pivotally mounted near the In practice my' top end of said post adapted to be moved toward and from each other shear-fashion, means for securing the said members in place, and a triangular member pivoted to the said operating rod and slidably engaging the corresponding perforated ends of said gripping members.

2. In adevice for removing packages from shelves, the combination of an elongated handle, a post eccentrically mounted on the top end of said handle, an operating rod, said rod being movable relatively to the handle, one end of said rod being perforated for receiving and sliding on said post, a pair of angular gripping members pivoted to the free end of said post and having perforated arms, and a triangular loop supported by and movable with the operating rod, the corresponding portions of said loop passing through the perforated arms of said members and adapted to operate said members shear-fashion, by raising and lowering of the operating rod.

3. In a package grabber, a handle, a post supported by and projecting beyond the handle, the top end of said post being tl'ireaded, a pair of grabbing jaws having perforated arms for pivotally mounting the jaws upon said post, the free ends of said arms being perforated, nuts engaging the threads of said post for holding the said jaws in place, a triangular member for moving said jaws towards and from each other for grabbing and releasing packages, the corresponding arms of said triangle passing through the perforated arms of the jaws and adapted when raised and lowered to open and close the claw-ends of said jaws, and an operating rod reciprocatably mounted on said handle, the top end of said rod being bent towards the handle and being perforated for receiving and sliding on said post, a bent portion of said rod being disposed between the arms of the triangle and pivotally secured thereto.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM A. THAYER. 

